Thursday, July 4, 2013

Nothing More, Nothing Less- Ashley Dukart

Title: Nothing More, Nothing LessAuthor: Ashley DukartSource: Sent by the authorSeries: StandaloneRating: 3/5Brandon is an addict that lives with his two brothers Ace and Cole. We learn that the protagonist blames himself for his mother's suicide. His addiction to drugs and alcohol put a strain on his relationships with his brothers and he turns to his best friend Brett often to hide from his home life. He starts to deal drugs to support his habit and his life spirals out of control.This was Dukart's first novel and she choose to write about addiction. This book deals with a lot of issues including addiction and suicide. The author showed the reader how addiction and suicide do not only affect the person who is the addict but everyone else in there life. The suicide of Brandon's mother has caused a rift between himself and his brothers and has led to him becoming addicted to more and more dangerous drugs.The characters in this book were a little wishy washy. Brandon was selfish, he dragged his brothers through everything. He did not grow as a character, he repeated the same mistakes over and over again. He looked like he wanted to change but he never did. There was no character growth with any of these characters which was disappointing. Cole was the passive brother who always tried to be gentle with Brandon while Ace took the more aggressive approach with Brandon but nothing helped. Brandon knows he is hurting people but he did not try to help himself.The plot was refreshing. She dove right into the story and did not hold back. She showed the raw emotions of all the characters and did not sugar coat Brandon's life. This book showed what drug abuse can do to your life, how it affects everything and how easy it is to lose control and fall into the life of a drug dealer.Overall I appreciated the subject matter but the characters, especially Brandon caused aversion. There was no character growth and the ending felt rushed. This book would be a great discussion book.